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Re: unReality TV Maybe in your playbook... Franklin (Allergy sufferer, hates fuzzy critters...)

Re: Hero 'I.D' for those who refuse to register Heh. I must confess that I've got a few characters of my own with whom your idea would strike a chord. Franklin

Re: (best ever...) reasons for becoming a superhero "'Why?' If you have to ask 'why?' then you won't understand my reasons, no matter how eloquently I could ever hope to word them..."

Re: Lost World Map

Re: Future submarine warfare? Why are subs always pictured as military vessels? What about large commercial CARGO-HAULING subs? Just tossing out an idea... Franklin

Re: Ambidexterty too expensive? Here's the problem I've got with the current write-up with Ambidexterity: In order for a character to be truly ambidextrous, he has to buy this "Talent" more than once! He has to buy it for Melee/HTH Combat; he has to buy it again for Ranged Combat (e.g.: guns); and then he has to buy it for Noncombat Skills (which isn't supported with the current write-up at all). A PC or NPC who is ambidextrous with HTH combat won't be ambidextrous if he starts using two pistols, nor will he be ambidextrous if he tries to write (i.e.: Forgery skill) using his Off Hand. So, in my campaign, I've ditched the "official" write-up, and replaced it with this: Ambidexterity: 3 Overall/General levels, base/active cost 30 points, Only to offset the penalty for Off-Hand (-2), final cost 10 points. My write-up is one point more than the "official" one, but it covers all situations: HTH/melee combat; ranged combat; and noncombat! Franklin

Re: "Newtonian Acceleration" Advantage? I'd make it a simple +1/2 Advantage (just the same as the "regular" Cumulative advantage). But then, I see just as many disadvantages to vectored movement as I see advantages. (With vectored movement, for example, when one is heading for the really big wall [asteroid/moon, in this case], one cannot simply shut down the engines...) Franklin

Re: How do I freeze water? If the character has an ice/frost Entangle, preferably one with some type of area effect, that would work. Otherwise, I would permit any cold/frost attack power to freeze flowing water at the rate of 1 BODY pip of damage freezes 1 BODY's worth of water. I didn't see a reference for Water or Ice in 5E pg. 304, so I'd have to "wing it" for the amount of BODY in one hex's worth of water; something in the range of 16-20 BODY sounds about right to me... Franklin

Re: Paper Minatures That's "Action Figures." (Not "dolls.") Sheesh..... Franklin

Re: Genres HERO GAMES may want to avoid (intended to be humorous) Marketing HERO! "Now, you too can be a wizard of Madison Avenue! Create you own customized ad campaign for the newest consumer sensation! Advertise anything you can imagine -- a foodstuff or snackfood! a movie or TV series! a new line of clothing! THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!" ~~~~~ Franklin

Re: Penultimate Series? Yes, please...

Re: New Miniatures: Hopping Vampires and Terra Cotta Zombies! No problem! Just open up a jar of peanut butter, toss the peanut butter away, dive into a ditch, and wait for the trigger-happy tree-rats to kill each other off fighting over the peanut butter! Works every time! Franklin

Re: Interplanetary colonies

Re: Easily forgotten Min Control . . . gobs and gobs of Mind Control. Give it a Set Command: "Ignore Me" (I think Set Command is a -1 Limit, but I could be wrong). Make it Persistent, 0 END, and Inherent (as well as Always On). Franklin

Re: STR vs. Gravity Since HERO System is supposed to model Comic Book Physics (not necessarily Real World Physics; e.g.: bricks lift an entire bus or airplane and it doesn't snap off), I can live with ignoring "Weight ain't Mass!" I just want to restore the internal consistency which (for me) has always been one of HERO's strong points (pun not intended). Franklin

Re: Holy giant hydrocarbon lakes, Batman!

Re: name this gadget!

Re: STR vs. Gravity Well, since that 4g field is four times stronger than a 1g field (by definition), then the STR 20 guy (who's FOUR TIMES STRONGER than a STR 10 guy, according to the Strength Chart) should actually have NO problems in that 4g field, if the game mechanics are to remain consistent. Franklin

Re: name this gadget! Looking at these two gave me "Battle-Staff." Unless some other suggestion looks even better, that's probably what I'll go with. Thanks! Franklin

Strength is geometric in effect -- i.e.: +/- 5 STR doubles/halves its "power". However, gravity (as first referenced in Star Hero) is not geometric; it's linear instead -- +/-5 STR is +/- 1.0 Earth gravities. This is inconsistent and is therefore non-intuitive. I'd be grateful to know why this change was made, why gravity's effect as Strength was changed from geometric (which is the way Strength works for all other cases) to linear. Secondly, crushing damage (in The Ultimate Brick) occurs when someone is trapped under a very heavy object. In tUB, it is written as occuring once per Turn. Allow me to point out that this is also inconsistent, as follows: Falling is caused by gravity. Falling occurs every Segment. Ergo, gravity causes effects every Segment. Crushing damage is also caused by gravity. Ergo, crushing damage should also occur every Segment. Minor nitpicks, to be sure, but they still grated against me, and I needed to get these off my chest. Overall, I've always been a fan of Champions/HERO System, in all its incarnations (save one: Fuzion, which wasn't truly HERO System in any event). Thanks! Franklin

Re: name this gadget! OK, some background... I came up with the idea for this hero while playing around with HeroMachine. I came up with this image: [ATTACH]22435[/ATTACH] I thought, "That's pretty cool, now let's make a character to go with it." The only power I could think of was "Well, he's got four arms...Mutant?...What else...Something else...Anything else?...Drawin' a blank here." So, I gave him STR 45 (really low for a brick, rather high for a non-brick) and some Damage Resistance for his 10 PD/10 ED (natural/base DEF; not including any for his padded costume...), and then started on his martial arts maneuvers. ("Hmm...four arms...good at wrestling? Yeah, that works...A bit of karate also; image does show nunchucks and staff...") Then I wrote up the gadget. I figure, he had it custom-made by a weaponsmith/gadgeteer that he knows (someone who's either for hire to all, or else part of a local hero team). I still haven't come up with a name for the hero himself, either. I hope this additional info is helpful. My thanks to all who've contributed! Franklin

I've been writing up a new superhero PC. His schtick is that he's a mutant with an extra pair of arms who's learned various martial arts. He's got a gadget that can become different weapons/tools -- it's ordinarily a baton, but it can instead become a nunchaku, a tonfa, a quarterstaff, or a grapnel with line and winch. My question is, what do I call the gadget? (I'm asking for your help in coming up with a cool name.) If it helps, here is the write-up for the gadget. 18 Whatchamacallit: Multipower (37-pt. reserve), OAF (-1) 01 [u:30] Baton/Staff/Tonfa: HTH +4d6, 0 END (+1/2), HTH Attack (-1/2) 01 [u:31] Nunchaku: HTH +3.5d6, Indirect (+1/4), 0 END (+1/2), HTH Attack (-1/2) 01 [u:06] Baton/Nunchaku/Tonfa: +2 OCV w/ Block/Disarm/Takeaway 01 [u:07] Staff: Stretching +1", Combat reach only (-1/4), No velocity/growth bonus to damage (-1/4) 02 [u:37] Grapnel-Line: Swinging 25", 0 END (+1/2) 02 [u:37] Grapnel-Line and Winch: Leaping +25", 0 END (+1/2) == 26 Final Cost Thanks in advance! Franklin

The Language Chart used to have a thin box with square corners surrounding the Nordic languages (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish), the Germanic languages (German, Yiddish, Dutch, and Afrikaans), and English. Furthermore, in almost every edition of Champions/HERO System rules, there was an example of how English was related to Sedish, for purposes of calculating the cost of learning Swedish. However, in most recent editions (i.e.: the past 8-10 years), the Language Chart was missing this thin box with square corners, even though the example referencing this box was still there! So, I posted a complaint about this errata (to the "sysabend" mailing list, if I recall correctly). The "official" reply I received stated that there shouldn't be a closer relationship between Swedish and English that the one provided by the thick box with square corners, I was told (again, if I recall correctly). However, this still omitted the important fact that there is (or, ought to be shown in the Language Chart) a closer relationship between the Nordic languages (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) and the Germanic languages (German, Yiddish, Dutch, and Afrikaans). So, in my books, I've drawn the missing thin box with square corners. But this doesn't look quite as professional (being hand-drawn) as if it were printed... So, I finally tried my hand at MS Power Point, and made my own image for the Language Chart. Here's the whole thing: [ATTACH]22393[/ATTACH] And here's a subset of the Chart, showing just the specific fix I'd needed: [ATTACH]22390[/ATTACH] Now, I remember reading that TUSk is supposed to have a revised and/or expanded Language Chart. So, this work of mine may well be already obsolete. Yet, I wanted to share what I'd made with you, just in case it may be of service to one or more of you. Feedback shamelessly solicited! Franklin

Re: Character: Lance Dulak, Private Eye

Re: Quick Ninja Hero question Calligraphy I'd base off DEX. Cooking I'd base off INT. Sensei, being an Oriental version of Instructor, I'd base off PRE. Your other two sound more like Powers to me than Skills, so I couldn't give you a useful answer for them. Franklin